It may seem like there is a lot to personal finance. And in one sense there is. There are thousands of different approaches to personal finance. And this can get overwhelming. It may seem so overwhelming that you feel paralyzed at square one. But it doesn't have to be. There are a handful of things that are critical in personal finance. All the rest is splitting hairs. So go through each of these items one at a time and make an improvement in each area. . . .

You are likely paying for several kinds of insurance- car, life, house, renters, health etc. Insurance makes us feel secure and protected from life's 'eventualities'. We hope that when the crap hits the fan, insurance keeps it from hitting us too. Unfortunately insurance also costs us quite a bit too. If you add up all the premiums you're paying, insurance is probably one of the largest items on . . .

If used responsibly, credit cards can be a convenient way to make purchases, earn cashback and protect yourself from fraud. However, some credit cards come with fees that negate the benefits of carrying the card. There's so many fee-free credit cards that come with great benefits, that there are few cases where paying an annual fee for a credit card makes sense. So what should you do if you have a . . .

Investing is important. Investing puts your money to work. Investing harnesses the power of compound interest. Investing also protects your money from inflation. Yes, investing, especially in the stock market, does carry short term risk. So it is important to only invest money that you are committed to keeping invested for a decade or more. But many people don't invest for other reasons. Often . . .

A few weeks ago, I promised I was going to try Swagbucks, and deliver a review. As a brief recap, Swagbucks pays you to take surveys, sign up for special offers, use their search engine, play games and watch videos. Despite Swagbuck's prominent claim of collectively paying members almost $200 million, I went in with low expectations. However, I figured that if nothing else, I could at least earn . . .

The average cost of raising a child through age 17 in the United States is $233,610. That's $12,978 per year. Now, just like any other parent out there, I think my kids are priceless. I also know that raising them costs money. But not $12,978 per year kind of money. Especially since I have 3. So what are some ways to keep costs down?
1. Buy Diapers Strategically
In the first 2 years, diapers . . .

There's a common misconception that you need to spend money to have fun. If you buy into this misconception too much, you'll easily amuse yourself broke. Fortunately, there are many ways to relax, have fun and enjoy a day or afternoon off for little or no money.
1. Parks and Trails
Most cities spend a significant amount of money providing and maintaining public parks and trails. On nice days, . . .

If you're looking for broad nationwide cell phone coverage, Verizon's network is head and shoulders above the other major networks. If you already have Verizon service, however, you probably already know that it also comes with a hefty price tag. Their smallest data plan with 2 Gb rings in at $35 plus a $20 line access fee. Their largest (unlimited) plan rings in at $85 per line or $150 per 2 . . .

Yogi Berra allegedly said 'if you don't know where you're going, you might end up somewhere else.' Typical of his sayings, it's almost too true to be humorous. The advice is also especially relevant to personal finance. We're given lots of advice with little thought as to what we're wanting to accomplish. True, a lot of the standard advice gets us off in a good direction. But to really accomplish . . .

A little while ago, I tried InboxDollars (so you didn't have to). In case you missed that post, InboxDollars is one of those companies that pays you for taking surveys, signing up for offers and watching videos (aka ads). After trying the program from signup to payout, our verdict was that while it wasn't an outright scam, the experience was dismal and the payout was dismal for the time . . .

School's finally out, summer is warming up, and there's a new crop of high school and college grads out, ready to grab life by the horns. With this newfound independence also comes financial responsibilities, so without further ado, here's a list of money management tips especially geared for new grads, inspired in part from a previously published roundup of advice from several other bloggers.
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